From the editor's desk

December has been a heavy month in NW Washington. Which is why we were extremely pleased this week to share with readers some spots of light, befitting the holiday season, to brighten moods soured by surly weather, power outages and flooding.  

Our own bright star in that department, CDN's multitalented Lifestyle Editor, proved more than up to that task this week, producing two smartly written pieces that do their fair share of faith-in-humanity restoration. 

The first, which we put on A1 of our print paper and is offered as this week's CDN Sunday Read, is a plucky profile of the Edison Women's Club, a century-old group that serves as both an unofficial branch of government ("… one of the few local entities with enough influence to call a town meeting," Cocoa notes) and longstanding linchpins of the Skagit Valley town's social network.  Their main task this time of year: Maintenance and installation of the town's Christmas decorations. 

The second piece, a first-hand account of riding the Lions Club Christmas Ship on its annual voyage to deliver Santa and Mrs. Claus — and requisite gifts — to islands across the Salish Sea from Bellingham, is also a delightful departure. That story, like much of her work, is brought to life by Cocoa's own poignant photographs.  

Not every journalist out there will take the major step of donning a set of (required in this case, Cocoa says) reindeer antlers while on assignment.  

We are proud to feature Cocoa's work, both serious and fun, in our pages and on our website every week. Here's hoping it lifts some spirits in your own this holiday week. 

No Christmas-week CDN print edition 

That's a good reminder about the coming week: To give hardworking staff a few days' rest, CDN will not produce a print newspaper on Dec. 26. We'll be updating our news site, Cascadiadaily.com, through the week as usual.  

Happy holidays to all, and thanks for supporting your local, independent newsroom.

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Sunday read

Sarah Smith places a completed candy cane decoration against her garage door. By the end of the meeting, the Edison Women's club tied new bows and branches to more than 25 of their historic decorations. (Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)

In Edison, a century-old women's club stewards civic life — and Christmas decor

The Edison Women's Club formed around 1910, a time when the town was little more than dark, muddy settlement. Its primary mission — to keep the street lamps alight — hasn't changed in 115 years.

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Stories of the week

News

Some farms in Whatcom, Skagit see 'immense' damage after floods

Impacts of last week's floods on farms were mixed, with some faring better than in 2021. Some, however, have been left questioning what their future looks like now.

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Opinion

Little calm after this storm: Help us ask the right questions about flood recovery

Reporters at Cascadia Daily News have been grateful for time taken by victims of this month's historic floods to share their stories with the local newspaper. CDN needs more of the same sort of help from readers to guide follow up reporting on what went right — and wrong — with flood planning and recovery, writes Executive Editor Ron Judd, putting out a call for more first-person accounts from the public. 

Letters to the Editor: A bus shelter win, flooding concerns and WTA woes

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Sports & Rec

Trans athlete restrictions proposed again to high school sports rulemaking body 

The Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association (WIAA) has 35 proposed amendments to vote on next year. Some of the proposals could affect high schools in Whatcom and Skagit counties, including trans athlete restrictions being brought up for the second straight year. 

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Living

Bringing holiday cheer to WA island children aboard the 'Christmas Ship'

Two Saturdays before Christmas, CDN's Cocoa Laney set sail for the San Juan Islands as a reindeer named Prancer. She was there to help the Lions Club bring holiday cheer to island children — a tradition dating back more than 75 years.

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